Adam Gagnon/CFL.ca
If the pundits, the fans and the mathematically-generated simulators are right, we were witness to the Grey Cup preview at Tim Horton’s Field.
Consider what happened along the way to Calgary’s 42-28 win over Hamilton.
The weather factor
At the 4 p.m. kickoff, it was 27C in Hamilton, but felt like 35C with the humidity. It climbed to 36C before 7 p.m. As anyone in Alberta will remind you right now, the province has been dealing with single-digit temperatures and snow through the past week.
“We left the snow to come to this,” said Stamps linebacker Alex Singleton.
“It’s a big difference. A lot of guys from the States in the south, they like it, but it was hot. We were hot but I think we hydrated right. There wasn’t a lot of cramping on the field. It’s one of those adversity things you’re facing on the road to go from the snow to this.”
While the Stamps dealt with the swing of temperature — they flew home after the game to snow and an expected 3C overnight low — the Ticats dealt with it too. Hamilton linebacker Lucas Wacha came to the sideline in the first half, emptied his stomach into the yellow bin behind the Ticats’ bench and went about his business.
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In-game craziness
There’s a book’s worth of material from this one. To condense it, we had a Hamilton pick-six; a Calgary trick play that led to a touchdown; a return touchdown for each team and two (two!) Calgary fumbles that led to touchdowns.
Also, Shakier Ryan had his long dreadlocks used as a tackling tool, in a moment that made anyone watching reach for their scalp and cringe.
For a team that’s been as dominant in the regular-season over the last six years (81 wins and counting), you don’t expect the wonky, unconventional plays to to dominate the game.
“To be honest it was sloppy,” Stamps coach Dave Dickenson said.
“I think both teams didn’t execute at the level they wanted to, but you could see the big play capabilities of both teams. It was a war.”
The Stamps eventually found themselves
Hamilton’s 25-20 third-quarter lead was erased thanks to Terry Williams’ 83-yard return TD and finally, the Stamps began to look like themselves. Mitchell found Reggie Begelton for a 99-yard touchdown run, then hit him again on a two-point convert to go up nine. They set up Paredes for a chip shot field goal and milked the clock in the fourth quarter, sending running back Romar Morris into the end zone from three yards out with 1:18 to play. Mitchell finished with 270 yards passing and made 17 of his 30 passes.
“I was asking myself that (what was happening) all game,” Mitchell said.
“There were mistakes every single play. We’re in the green zone and we don’t have 12 guys. We’re not blocking the right guys on cover zero. I’m missing throws, it’s all around.
“We have to look at ourselves and say, ‘Hey, we played the way we played and scored 43 points. Imagine if we were playing the way we should be playing.’ Hopefully we all take a look at that.”
The Stamps’ biggest victory went to the defence, which limited Jeremiah Masoli to 23-37 passing for 210 yards and two interceptions. It was a season-low in yardage and the fourth game this year he didn’t find someone in the end zone.
“I thought our defence had a nice rebound from last week,” Dickenson said. “They played some different things and found a way to expose some of their different things that Hamilton was doing.
“(Hamilton’s) defence also did the same thing. The first half we were trying to figure out what they were doing. I thought we made some great halftime adjustments and found some ways to get in the end zone.”
Key ingredients: MIA
As fun as it is to think of a September game as a taste of what might come in the Grey Cup, there’s too much time remaining and too many key players — receivers in particular — absent from the field for it to have any sort of relevance for a future matchup. Kamar Jorden is out for the season for Calgary, as Jalen Saunders and Chris Williams in Hamilton, with Brandon Banks sitting out with a groin injury and Stamps receiver Eric Rogers out with a knee injury. DaVaris Daniels left the game Saturday with a shoulder injury and Dickenson said it didn’t look great for him. If he’s out for a long stretch, that would leave the team without its top-three American receivers.
Still, Begelton stepped in with a 150-yard performance and Juwan Brescacin’s 109-yards were his first in triple-digits.
“It’s just amazing to watch these guys continue to plug and play all year,” Mitchell said.
“We spoke about it at the beginning of the year. When we talked about having the best receiving crew it wasn’t the top-five. It was the fact that we had starters, starters, starters, sitting on the bench just waiting in the wings.
“These guys are putting the work in on scout team for five, six weeks, (Brescacin’s) been waiting his turn. You can see that these guys have talent. We have a lot to fix, mentally with our details, but it’s definitely a talented group.”
If they do meet at the end of November in Edmonton, they might think back to this hot day under the sun,when you started sweating the second you walked outside. In Edmonton at the end of November, there could be as much as a 60-degree swing in the weather when the game really counts.
“Between 7C and 15C, that’s a prime number, right there,” Singleton said of his desired game day weather.
Both teams should be so lucky.
